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An up close and personal interview with U.S. Navy Veteran and Togetherweserved.com Member:
BM3 Leo Gullage U.S. Navy (1943-1946)
PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE NAVY?
I was working in the Boston Navy Yard as a ship-fitters helper at age sixteen when my father had died from wounds sustained in World War I. My mother was devastated by the loss and we had very little money so I had to leave school and help my mother.
Everyone was joining the service so when I was seventeen so my friend and I decided to join the Marine Corps. My friend flunked the physical and my mother would not sign the paper for me, so we joined the Navy. We went through boot camp together at Newport, RI. I personally think boot camp was a joy since I love marching, especially the Saturday morning review with the music of John Phillip Sousa; I also loved all the swimming. I was able to use the pool three nights a week and had a great time. We were located next to the War College at Newport and every time something happened or an All-Navy message came out it was posted there at the War College. I first learned that I was to go to the Armed Guard through the War College bulletin board.
WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING?
I was detailed for duty with the Armed Guard, mostly serving on Liberty Ships and tankers taking supplies all over the world. My first assignment was at Little Creek, VA to attend Gunnery School. I didn't like the duty there as much as Boot Camp. We worked our tails off in the hot July sun learning how to shoot anti-aircraft guns and how to take them apart and put them back together - we could do a twenty millimeter in literally seconds. It was at Little Creek that I learned the very valuable Navy lesson to never be late. I was late coming back from liberty at Ocean view Amusement Park and ended up on the business end of a big broom sweeping the entire street area of the Little Creek base.
After school we were sent to the Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn, NY. We had only been there one day when on August 26, 1943 we climbed aboard the SS Pearl Harbor and set sail across the Atlantic. Red Britton and I were on watch on the 3-50 on the bow and we sailed down the East River in NY, past the Statue of Liberty, and out to the Atlantic when we heard the General Alarm go off; we were sure we were being attacked by submarines. In twenty months aboard the Pearl Harbor we crossed the Atlantic six times and each trip the convoy was attacked by subs. One night, as we approached the Irish Sea, a sub surfaced in the middle of the convoy and proceeded to put four torpedoes into a troop ship. It almost broke our hearts when we were told we could not stop to pick up survivors but that the escort vessels would do the job. We approached England after an Atlantic crossing and were told by the British Navy that we were to proceed up the Bristol Channel and unload in Newport, Wales.
I specifically remember the port of Southampton, England - what a liberty town that was. I left the ship the first day in port and was told that I could get fresh donuts at the American Red Cross just outside the docks where the big ocean liners took all the rich people from all over the world. I was dressed in my new "tailor made" and looked like the most "salty" sailor ever to wear a Navy uniform. The donuts were being made on the second floor so I went up a flight of stairs and found a dance floor and a girl making delicious donuts; I was enthralled by them both. She had such a "toney" way of speaking that I could have listened to her all day. I stayed and ate donuts and danced with this girl as long as I could. The girl turned out to be Bob Hope's first cousin. Eventually I met the whole family and became close to the father, Bob's uncle. I have stayed in touch with the family most of my life and have visited the girl and her family in her new home in Australia.
IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN COMBAT, PEACEKEEPING OR HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS, PLEASE DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH WERE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT TO YOU AND, IF LIFE-CHANGING, IN WHAT WAY.
After the chilling experience of crossing the sub infested North Atlantic six times, we were part of the invading force in the Invasion of Normandy. Our ship crossed the English Channel 28 times carrying troops and supplies. The first crossing was the morning of June 7, 1944; that was a hair raising experience. We approached the coast of France and saw the invading forces go ashore at Utah Beachhead and we were far enough off shore to see at the same time the forces going into the Omaha Beachhead. At this time we did not know what beach we were going to, but we were heading straight for the cliff "Pointe Du Hoc" in between the two beachheads and when I saw the ship's bow turn to the port I knew we were headed for Omaha. We sailed parallel to the shore and came up upon the ships of the line and proceeded to pass on the port side of the USS Texas as she was unloading salvo after salvo on the area behind the beachhead. You know, you can actually see the projectiles as they fired the salvo, at least I thought I could, that was an awesome sight.
We headed to the beachhead and the Captain maneuvered the ship so that we could unload the troops and equipment. We spent most of the day of the seventh at the beachhead and that night (I read this later in the Stars and Stripes) was the only night the Luftwaffe came out in strength.  The Stukas and a new German night fighter began at dusk and then all hell broke out. Our airplane spotters aboard ship had a difficult time identifying the German night fighter and we were told the next morning what the plane was. As it was explained to me later, the airfield was about where the American Cemetery is now and the air strip ran parallel to the shoreline. The Stukas would take off and turn and come back and "Skip Bomb" the area where the troops were landing. There was so much flack put up in the air that you could hear it landing on the deck of the ship, it sounded like a very heavy rain.
FROM YOUR ENTIRE SERVICE, INCLUDING COMBAT, DESCRIBE THE PERSONAL MEMORIES WHICH HAVE IMPACTED YOU MOST?
That's difficult to say, some were very serious and some were quite funny. I really loved my shipmates on the Pearl Harbor. Sometimes they drove me nuts but they were the best guys I have ever met.  I can honestly say that I have seen life at its best and just by the passage of years I have seen some of the very worst from people as well but the thing that amazes me more than anything was the honesty of my shipmates. In all my Navy travels in World War II I never needed a lock on my locker or on my sea-bag.
Recently I had an occasion to google my old outfit at Tacloban in the Philippines and was amazed to find out that late on the evening of July 30, 1945 the OD of NSF3964 (National Shore Facilities) picked up a distress call from a ship of the line somewhere in the Leyte Gulf. The signal and destination was vague but he passed on whatever information he had and then had everyone "turn to" with our VP's and LCM's, those were two landing crafts; one was 36 and one was 50 feet in length. We fueled up and took on extra water and sailed for hours looking for survivors. We did not find anything and when we returned I was angry and even claimed that the OD had sent us on a training exercise. After the war had been over for a number of years one of the survivors, US Marine Edgar Harrell, wrote a book on the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. It was such a sad story and it actually made you cry to think of the tortures these men endured.  About a thousand men went into the sea that night and due to the sharks and exposure when they found them there were only about 300 left. The Indianapolis was a cruiser with a marvelous war record, they had the assignment to carry the last piece of The Bomb from Guam. After reading that book I became ashamed of my actions when I realized we were searching unsuccessfully for these survivors.
Photo shows survivors of the USS Indianapolis arriving at Guam.
[Editor's Note: Cpl. Edgar Harrell, reference above, is a Marines TWS member and was the subject of a previous "TWS Voices," you can read his story at this link.]
Another incident stands out in my mind and I do not know whether it happened or not, but it is as clear in my mind as if it occurred yesterday. I was a seaman on the twelve to four watch back aft on the 5-38 gun deck. It was about two hours into the watch, after midnight, and I may have been "skylarking." We were in the middle of the North Atlantic and when it gets dark the ships in the convoy take a different position. They put a little more space between them to avoid collision. I was listening to the sailor on the bridge singing the Hawaiian Love song when all of a sudden the entire sky lit up and it was as clear as day. I could clearly see the two ships alongside us and could even read the names. I excitedly reported the phenomenon to the bridge and a buddy came back to me and asked me what I had been drinking. I told him the story again and even named the ships alongside us. He called the Bow Watch and the Roving Watch and all gave a negative. Even to this day I believe this actually happened and I'm sticking with my story.
WHAT ACHIEVEMENT(S) ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF FROM YOUR MILITARY CAREER? IF YOU RECEIVED ANY MEDALS FOR VALOR OR OTHER SIGNIFICANT AWARDS, PLEASE DESCRIBE HOW THESE WERE EARNED.
One day as we were approaching the Irish Sea just off the coast of England. I had an accident. It was one of those days when the clouds were high in the sky and the sun was shining brightly through the clouds. There was a stiff breeze from the northeast and the sea was very choppy. The Commodore of the convoy ran up some flags to send a message and each ship had to answer. I was on the bridge and the signalman  went over to the flag box which looked like an over sized coffin, to run up the flags and he forgot to lock the cover in place. I immediately saw it and jumped forward to grab the cover so it would not come down on the signalman. I stumbled and flipped in the air and came down on my head. You guessed it. I came down on the same spot where I had the plate put in as a boy. I felt I wasn't hurt but I was to learn later that a scalp wound bleeds profusely and this sure did. They took me to my quarters and the ship's purser came and bandaged my head. I looked like a Turk. I was given two aspirins and went to sleep. The next morning they could not wake me. They thought I was in a coma. They waited another day and were about to notify the Commodore when I woke up. They asked me how I felt and I told them I felt great and I stood my regular watch that night.
I was proud of the "tough kid" reputation I earned from the incident.
WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
For a period of time I was the Coxswain of the Captains Gig in the Philippines. This was a 24' runabout powered by an eight cylinder Chrysler Marine engine with a cockpit in the bow for the coxswain and a place for the Captain in the back that was protected by a canopy. This may have been the plushest enlisted man's job in the Navy. I had a chow pass that allowed me to go to the head of the chow line wherever I was and I worked three days on and two days off. On the days off I was allowed to use the boat as the Captain had two other gigs. Perhaps every Admiral or top officer that came through the Philippines at that time was in my boat at one point but the individual that stands out for me was a shipmate by the name of Scarbacci.
When we first arrived in the Philippines we lived in a barracks they had used to house Japanese donkeys. Our toilet facilities were a 100 gallon drum with the top cut out and a high chair arrangement above it. It wasn't too bad except when the drums needed to be emptied; they put chemicals in them and burned them. Imagine sitting there when all around you is burning waste. There were so many ants in the barracks that you had to take the little cans from the c-rations, cut them out to fill them with diesel oil and put the legs of the cot in them or you would wake up covered in ants. From this description you can probably see why I missed being on board ship.
Fortunately the Seabees built us a new base across the straits on the island of Guiwan, going there was like moving into the Ritz. There were two barracks for ship's company with two decks and a crossover area in the middle forming a letter H. We had been in our new billets for two weeks when malaria and dysentery broke out and in no time at all you could see were whole rows of empty bunks; the guys were falling left and right. A few of my friends and I were lucky and didn't get sick.
At that time we were assigned to the Aircraft Carrier USS Randolph and were told to stay away from the barracks. We slept in our boats and ate wherever we could. Everything eventually cleared up and went back to normal.
A great many stories emanated from those barracks but I must tell you about Scarbacci. There had been a large east coast draft of boat coxswains when I was in Brooklyn, we filled a troop train that crossed the country. In Brooklyn I met a lot of boat coxswains but a few stood out, one was a guy named Scarbacci. He was a small well-built Italian with a smile on his face all the time. We knew each other but were not close friends; we were always friendly and said hello but always went our own way. We traveled across the country and all the way across the Pacific and always said hello each time we saw each other.
When we arrived in Tacloban I was assigned to a brand new LCVP and when I pushed the starter button it roared into life, I was thrilled.  Scarbacci got the job he wanted as well and was happy as a bird, he ran a sixty foot dual powered garbage scow with a fifty foot garbage disposal that opened in the bottom. He sat in the Coxswain's seat twenty five feet above the scow and you could see him sailing down the inner harbor to the outer harbor waving to everyone, he really loved his job.
Not long after the malaria and dysentery cleared up I came down with a strange fever. It was the middle of the night and I was thrashing around in my bunk and having terrible nightmares. My fever was raging and I was all alone and scared half to death. I was out of my head and calling for my mother when I felt arms around me as I was being carried out of the barracks and through the jungle to the dispensary. This was no easy feat as the war was still on and there were blackouts over the entire area, not to mention the overgrown jungle. I was undressed, put in a bunk, and given medicine and shots. I woke up three days later and there was my hero...Scarbacci. He had carried me through the jungle in almost complete darkness, delivered me to the dispensary, and stayed until I went to sleep. He came back each day to sit with me and tell me stories about his garbage scow. He also brought me gee dunk and pogey bait and kept me up to date on everything. Scarbacci was a truly caring and loving person, I have remembered him with great affection all of my life.
WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?
For a few years I worked in an office in downtown Boston, MA. I was fortunate when the man next door offered me a job driving a Hostess Cake truck for the Continental Baking Co. I also enrolled in night school at Northeastern University and began studying marketing. I was not interested in college, I just wanted to be able to say I went to school - I thought I just wasn't college material. I was on the delivery route for three and a half years, the job was so easy that I was able to do all the math in my head and was quickly becoming bored.
My immediate superior at the plant recognized the symptoms and began to promote me. Every two years I received a promotion and before I knew it I was sales manager of the largest sales force in New England. The next step in the progression at Continental Baking was to become a Bakery manger. Continental was the largest baking company in the country and had the shortest direct line between levels of management; there was the President, the Vice President and the Bakery Manger, which gives some indication of the importance of the Bakery Mangers job. I knew I was capable of running a bakery and was ready for my next position when one day my boss called me and said we were wanted at the regi onal office for a meeting with the Vice President. I knew the New Haven Bakery Manager position was open and I was sure that would be my next assignment but I could not have been more wrong. Most of the time I have instant recall but the next few words out of the VP's mouth were nothing but a jumble. I thought he said I was awarded a full scholarship to Cornell University in Ithaca New York to study food distribution and economics....but no, who the hell would send me to an Ivy League College on a full scholarship?
It seems that the baking industry executives up to this point had been a group of men whose families owned bakeries and the families were dying out and needed new blood. What the company intended to do was to educate a new group of executives that eventually would take over the company, I was the fourth person chosen. I really worked my tail off at Cornell and found that I enjoyed learning. Three years after Cornell the company found themselves in a bind and felt they were vulnerable to a takeover so they selected ITT and sold to them. We called it a merger but it was really an acquisition. I became General Manager of New England and manager of the world's largest bakery in Natick Mass, just before the ITT middle management purge.
I left and moved to Florida and joined the Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company and became successful beyond my wildest dreams. I had my own office and no bosses. I was in hog-heaven and took to the work like I was born to be an agent for Northwestern Mutual. Northwestern is a leader in their field and when they find a person who has an aptitude for the work they get behind them. The management of Northwestern was equally as great as the management of Continental Baking Co.
My wife and I have traveled the world but "tempus Fugit," we are getting old. I am now 88 and counting so I am limited to a once a year vacation. Although I am semi-retired, I do a little service work for my older clients. My wife is an artist who continues painting beautiful art pieces.
In the year 2007 I was diagnosed with arrhythmia. I went to a doctor that was said to be the best heart doctor in the city. He nearly killed me. I was at his office weekly with him trying to control my heart rate with medicine. He finally decided that I needed a pacemaker. Well that didn't help. My blood pressure was sky high and my heart rate was always around 150. My golfing buddy is a retired pharmacist so I asked him to recommend a doctor. He got me an appointment with a cardiologist from New York. This doctor came into the room and I told him what the problem was and he left and came back with a goofy looking machine and attached it to my chest and in ten minutes he made a few adjustments and told me "there, I don't think you will have any more problems" and my blood pressure and heart rate are normal and have been ever since. Can you imagine the difference in doctors?
IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER?
From this dissertation you know that my mother had a great influence on my life. When she signed the paper for me to join the Navy she made me give her three promises; never get a tattoo, don't bring home a bride, and say your prayers every night.
My parents Julia and Charlie Gullage were outstanding people. World War I made Julia a thirty nine year old widow, she went on to join the Army and became a nurse. She was such a marvelous and caring person with an iron will that she would regularly travel from the Army hospital in Butler, PA to New York to pick up the multiple amputees coming home from overseas. Charlie was an engineer with an aptitude toward mathematics who some believed might have been a genius. They were a loving couple completely devoted to one another and to their children. They both had a great sense of humor and they really cared about other people.
Julia was Irish catholic and made sure we went to church and Charlie was a force in the home as well as in the small town in which we lived where he was a public official of sorts. As you can see from this family life, even at seventeen I had a well-structured sense of what was right and wrong. What serving in the armed forces did for me was to make me proud of my country and the people who served her then and now. I am so proud of all the young men and women who serve our country that it is hard to describe.
BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE NAVY?
 Make the most out of your time in the Navy. Listen to your superiors and do your duties to the very best of your ability and keep in mind that you are part of a team where all other members are counting on you doing your job. Also known the job of the person over you so if something happens to him, you can take over and complete the mission.
IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.
I am still getting familiar with the site, but I will say that after I joined I had a former shipmate say he served with me. I did not remember him but we will eventually find out where we served together.
Having the chance to write down some of my military history and knowing it will last long after I am gone means a lot to me.
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TWS VOICES
TWS Voices are the personal stories of men and women who served in the US Military and convey how serving their Country has made a positive impact on their lives. If you would like to participate in a future edition of Voices, or know someone who might be interested, please contact TWS Voices HERE.
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